President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of renowned academic Dr Basilia Igbokwe as the 9th substantive Rector of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede Owerri Imo State.
President Bola Tinubu gave the approval in a letter dated Tuesday September 10, 2024 and delivered to Dr. Basilia Igbokwe on Wednesday September 11, 2024.
A source told our correspondent that she would be inaugurated as the 9th substantive rector on Tuesday, September 17 by the Hon Henry Ikoh-led Governing Council at the institution's Boardroom.
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The appointment has expectedly thrown the polytechnic community into jubilation with her supporters making merry and issuing congratulator messages over her success. Even the youth body of the host community is not left out of the jubilation galore.
Her emergence as rector is also significant because she broke the jinx of no member of staff of the Department of Humanities and School of General Studies becoming the rector of the polytechnic.
Since the establishment of the polytechnic, there has been deep-seated discrimination and stigmatization of the School of General Studies and Department of Humanities with many of the polytechnic demagogues vowing that no member of staff of the department will ever get to mount the rector's position.
Their stance has been that only departments with technology background would continuously produce heads of the institution.
Dr. Basilia Igbokwe had come tops at the screening exercise superintended by the Rector Selection Board headed by a former Rector of the Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Professor Okorie Kalu Osonwa.
She floored six other academics namely the Acting Rector, Dr Onyemenonu C. C.; Dr Okafo Okeraffia, Dr. Uzoma Ibeaja, Dr Lilian Esiagu, Dr Catherine Nwachukwu and Dr Chinwe Okpoechi to place first in the screening examination.
Recall that the Governing Council had shortlisted Dr Basilia Igbokwe, Dr. Onyemenonu C. C and Dr. Okafo Okeraffia for approval and appointment any one of them by President Tinubu as new rector to replace the immediate past rector, Dr. Chidiebere Arimanwa.
The other six academics through their lawyer, D. C Denwigwe had petitioned the Federal Ministry of Education rejecting the outcome of the screening exercise on the ground that they were administered with a written examination rather an oral interview.
Dr. Igbokwe is the second female rector of the Polytechnic with the first being Prof. Celestina Njoku who served between 2010 and 2018.
Prof Njoku is now the Vice Chancellor of a private university in Abia State
